I know God has things waiting for us in the future. We must
stand tall, with our heads up and anticipate our blessings.
I was there to do a story on Braxton McIntyre. He was also there to scout a few kids. We caught up for a while when we first saw each other then we started to focus on the game a bit. He changed my perception of how I watch high school football. It opened my mind up a bit about how critically the recruiting is for the next level. When I tell you that he as critical of high school players as he is of his college players, it scared me a bit. He was pointing out things like taking plays off (effort), bad technique (fundamentals), and not high pointing the ball (playmaking ability). All things that coaches like to harp on at the college level. It amazed me that they want to see the same thing in high school kids before they even think about recruiting a kid. He came to see about 10 players from both Northwest and High Point Central. Only two of them were on his mind when he left. I heard the reason why every kid that he came for was marked off of his list. Opportunity, just like that, gone. 10 potential scholarship offers were at that game Friday. I know the kids that left with a chance with Pembroke program. And they played on a different level when the spotlight was on them.
So two things I got from this: 1. You must ALWAYS be on your game. Don't ever let someone recruiting you see you doing anything other than your best work. That was an interview Friday night when Coach Thomas came to watch those boys. 8 failed. It's cold, I know. And these coaches still sleep great at night. We (recruits) are the ones that miss out on the opportunity that they were willing to give. I can’t say it enough. You must go all out if you want this thing as bad as you say you do. Do you really even want it? Or do you kind of want it??
2. You must have technique. You must learn these skills that college coaches are looking for in players. You have to start being smart about the training that you are doing, the preparation, even if you have to go outside of your regular high school coaches because they aren’t preparing you for college. High school coaches are there to prepare you to play for them. They don’t care anything about you playing on the next level. Harsh but rue, and I don’t blame them a bit. I wish they would do more on your behalf, but they don’t get paid for that. If you want this thing, you must take the proper steps to go get it. When I link my high school clients with an All-American college player for training, my goal is for the college player to teach the same fundamentals they learn from their college coaches. So when recruiters come to the game, or watch your film, they clearly understand that you are more advanced than their other recruits. Fundamentally sound. That’s just one aspect.
So moving forward, there is still a lot of season left. A lot of film that can be put on a highlight tape. Make it happen. It’s a little too late to get into training but you can control your effort. Don’t get caught putting anything less than your best on film. I'm done, but I don't know how else to keep everyone on their toes. Even if a coach isn't coming to the game, if he watches a highlight of some team that you played and saw you jogging around, not giving full effort, these are ways athletes get taken off of recruiting boards. You must go all out for this thing. “All you got for how long it takes”10 people had a chance at scholarship before the game Friday. 2 people were given that opportunity after Coach Thomas left. Do you see now? That is how 1000 recruits can turn to 200 recruits. Then from the 200 recruits 10 – 15 are chosen for full scholarships. You have to be on top of your stuff.
Hope this helps,
- Janesh
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